


Tomorrow Won't Come

by RockyPond



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ethan keeps reliving Black Friday and his death, F/M, It's a Russian Doll scenario, Temporary Character Death, Time Loop, no beta we die like Ethan, or Happy Death Day, over and over again, take your pick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24320935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RockyPond/pseuds/RockyPond
Summary: “Lex, I’ll get you to California Lex, then you don’t gotta cry so much no more.” He promised her, holding her hand, hoping she understood how much he cared about her. Having said what he needed to, he let himself go limp.He felt his last breath get caught in his throat before everything faded from existence.Ethan felt his eyes jump open, lying in bed, just like he had that morning. He reached out his hand blindly, trying to grab a hold of his phone. He brought it close to his face, his vision slowly losing its blurriness until he could read the date; the 23rd of November 2018. It was Black Friday again.“What the fuck?”-Ethan Green is stuck in a time loop, reliving his own death on Black Friday over and over again. He is determined to change it, to survive until midnight to see tomorrow come. To get his girls to California. Will he be able to figure out what was going wrong and how to survive the worst day of his entire life?
Relationships: Ethan Green & Hannah Foster, Lex Foster/Ethan Green
Comments: 10
Kudos: 52





	1. Loop 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work is inspired partly by ell-double-oh-pee by gloomyhallway. It's a seriously great story. You can find it at https://archiveofourown.org/works/23784715/chapters/57135883  
> It was also inspired by the tv show Russian Doll and the movies Happy Death Day and Happy Death Day 2U.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

Ethan rolled over in his bed, thrusting out an arm in the direction of the singing. His hand smacked into his alarm clock, knocking it off his bedside table. Groaning, he pushed himself forward until his upper torso was hanging over the side of the bed, staring down at the broken remains of his clock.

“Fuck.” Ethan sighed, although he was thankful the music was over.

He closed his eyes and lay there, half off his bed for a few extra seconds, before pushing himself into a sitting position. He really had to get up, it was Black Friday, the 23rd of November 2018, meaning time to initiate Operation CaliforM.I.A. Checking his phone, he began to scroll through his texts to make sure the client hadn’t messaged him to pull out of the deal. Nope, still in and willing to pay $7000 for a fucking doll. Ethan would never understand rich people.

He started running through his typical morning routine, slowly becoming more excited as he drank his coffee. Soon, he would be out. Out of this shitty house, this shitty town and this shitty state. He’d be in the land of forever sunshine, rather than the seemingly endless clouds.

After getting fully dressed, he hopped into his car, hoping to beat traffic to get to Lex and Hannah’s house, everyone was either still asleep, or waiting in line at the mall already for the stupid sales. Pulling in front of their trailer home, he got out as quietly as possible and put his key into the lock. Checking around their ‘living room’ he noticed Lex’s mom passed out on the couch.

Satisfied she wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon, as he eyed the countless empty bottles at her feet, he made his way further in. He knocked on the door to Hannah and Lex’s shared room, entering when he heard Hannah call out softly to come in.

“What’s shaking Banana?” He greeted in his typical way, albeit whilst whispering, smirking down at the young girl. “Ready to go to the mall?”

Hannah shook her head fiercely, her untamed hair smacking her in her face. He watched as she scrunched up her nose in distress, the feeling of her unbrushed hair always irritated her sensitive nerves. He sighed and pulled her over to the bed, which she wordlessly sat down on. He followed suit behind her. He quietly grabbed the brush and began brushing through her hair, going gentle on the knots.

“Why not Hannah? You know we have to go today; we have been planning this for weeks. Lex has a surprise for you.”

Hannah began to shake her head but realised that wasn’t really possible in her current position and so settled for simply humming in disapproval. “Seriously Hannah, what do I have to do to get you to come?” She stayed stubbornly silent.

“Okay, how about this? You come today, and we can go see that movie, ‘Santa Claus is going to High School’?” He felt Hannah perk up, instantly straightening her posture. “That worked, huh? Okay, so we got a deal? You come to the mall today, and we watch your shitty Christmas movie?”

Ethan finished the second braid and tied it up, before sticking a hand out in front of him, with his pinky outstretched. He watched as Hannah eyed it briefly before reaching out with a pinky of her own, shaking his. He smiled behind her back, even if Hannah was annoying sometimes, she was damn adorable.

He stood up and watched as Hannah followed suit, walking out the door. He paused, before grabbing Lex’s duffel bag she had kept hidden for the past few months and just before leaving he picked up Hannah’s favourite pack of crayons and her unfinished drawing of a spider. It looked like it was fighting an octopus. Ethan smirked down at the drawing, before lightly folding it and stuffing it into the front pocket of the duffel. He slung the bag across his shoulder.

He and Hannah walked out of the house hand in hand, with the young girl only throwing a quizzical look at the bag before apparently deciding to ignore it. He locked the door behind him, before hopping into the car, Hannah following suit.

As he drove to the mall, he felt Hannah grow more and more nervous beside him. Any attempts at conversation only resulted in her muttering something about ‘bad blood’ and ‘black and white’. Although he would never admit it to either Foster girl, Hannah’s mutterings had always given Ethan the creeps, as if the girl knew more than she should.

By the time they arrived at the loading bay of the mall, Ethan was glad to be out of the car and the stifling silence that had fallen upon it.

He sat Hannah down on a crate, before making his way in to surprise Lex.

“Call security, we got a shoplifter, drop that doll.” He yelled, pointing at his girlfriend.

“Jesus Christ Ethan, you fucking asshole.” Lex pushed him and he was once again reminded of how goddamn beautiful his girlfriend was. He smiled down at her jokingly. As Lex asked him where Hannah was, he couldn’t help but tease her further, loving the look she always gave him when she did.

As he pulled Hannah in to the room, he warned Lex about how annoying Hannah had been so far this morning. He loved the kid, he did, but he didn’t have the patience of a saint and he certainly had never claimed to.

He watched as Lex attempted to convince Hannah to wear the backpack, with no avail. He sighed as he stood up and walked over to the young girl again, pulling his hat out of his back pocket as he did. “Alright banana split, you see this hat? It was gifted to me by a great warrior.”

He could hear Lex snicker behind him and turned around, “Don’t you fucking laugh.” Before facing Hannah again.

“It’s imbued with the power of Grayskull.” He saw Hannah perk up at that and smirked on the inside. He knew how to get a kid interested in something. “It can ward off magic, bad blood, backpacks, any fucking thing. I can lend you this hat, just for today, and while it is on your head, well nothing can harm you.”

“Honest?”

“Cross my heart, hope to die.” He held out the hat for Hannah and watched as she put it on backwards and then picked up the backpack.

He joked around with Lex for a little while, before she asked about the buyer. He let her know about the bidding war for the doll and their newly much higher California funds. He watched as she got more and more excited at the news.

He smiled as Lex let Hannah know about California being officially on, and watched as Lex pulled out a piece of paper to write a letter to her mom. “Oh, it’s L-I-E-R, babe.”

“We get it Ethan, you’re a good speller.” He noticed she didn’t correct the mistake though and started to realise he probably got it wrong again. Oh well, when Lex was a famous actor in California and he was looking after Hannah all day, he wouldn’t need to know any spelling then.

He watched as Lex headed back off to work, as he and Hannah made their way to the Cineplex. He walked up to the cash register, eying the kid working there. He definitely recognised him from school, although he had no clue what his name was.

“Can I get two tickets to ‘Santa Claus is Going to High School’?” Ethan lowered his voice as he said it, he had a reputation to uphold.

“That’ll be $27.50.” The cineplex teen said, holding out his hand for the money.

Ethan felt his heart drop out into the bottom of his stomach. He didn’t have anywhere close to that much money. He tried to haggle with the boy, but it was no use. He’d made a promise to Hannah and he had to break it. He noticed a mall security guard come up to him, and felt even more sick as he realised, he knew him. Today just kept going wrong.

As he felt his arm being grabbed, he cursed himself for screwing today up so royally for Hannah. He cut his own self loathing off as the security guard received a call on his walkie talkie. He couldn’t heard what exactly was being said, but the man let him go with a warning “You two get out of here.”

Shrugging off the weird encounter, Ethan sat down beside Hannah on a bench. He could hear her muttering to herself again and feeling bad decided to distract her. “I’m sorry Hannah. I thought I could get us in. I would have shelled out for the tickets, I’m just a little low on funds at the moment, I thought my old jalopy weren’t going to make it all the way to California, so I sunk a grand into it.”

He noticed Hannah kept just looking at her hands. “Look, don’t tell your sister I got no dough, she’ll lose respect for me.” Hannah was shaking lightly, “Hey, what’s shaking Banana? You okay?”

“Bad place, black and white.” Ethan figured she was talking about either her mom or California, in her own round about way and decided to try and reassure her.

“Look, I know you’re nervous to leave home, but you got to trust me.” He hoped she would ignore all the times today he’d proven he wasn’t very trustworthy. He’d never figure himself if Hannah lost him as a safe place to go to. “It’s going to be so much better for you once you are out of there. And hey, maybe once you’re gone, maybe then your mom will realise ‘hey, I got to do better.’ Do you trust your sister Hannah?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And do you believe that, no matter how bad it looks right now, things will get better.”

“Not better. Badder. Much badder.”

Ethan frowned, “Hey, what’s with that grammar, even I know it’s more badder.”

Suddenly, Ethan could hear the sound of fighting and groaning coming from down the hall. He noticed two men in the middle of a brawl, making their way over. He quickly stood up. “I think we better split Banana.”

He lightly brushed the arm of one of the men with his hand, “Hey, are you okay?” The man abruptly punched him in the face and gut, Ethan groaning as he felt blood quickly spill past his lips. He was vaguely aware of Hannah shrieking about “Bad Blood!” and couldn’t help but to think back on what she’d said this morning. He was quickly distracted though as he was grabbed from behind by someone else, who he hadn’t heard sneaking up on him.

He quickly realised what a dangerous situation this was for the young girl. “Hannah, get out of here, the play-place by Marshall’s, get in the kiddie tunnel.” He knew if she went there she’d be safe from these assholes.

He wasn’t able to see if she’d listened to him, as he was knocked to the ground by the men. He felt them begin to kick his side and his head. His consciousness started to fade fast, as pain enveloped his entire being. He felt like he was on fire and drowning at the same time. He coughed up more of the copper taste that filled his mouth.

He could feel hands messing around with his jacket, but in that moment he couldn’t care, just wanting the pain to stop somehow. He felt the hands leave and heard fading footsteps, before more came closer once again. He could see a woman in front of him, and heard someone yell his name.

His vision was blurry and he couldn’t get his eyes to focus on anything but he swore he saw Lex kneeling in front of him, with the ceiling light above them casting a halo around her, turning her brown hair a more copper colour.

“Lex, I’ll get you to California Lex, then you don’t gotta cry so much no more.” He promised her, holding her hand, hoping she understood how much he cared about her. Having said what he needed to, he let himself go limp.

He felt his last breath get caught in his throat before everything faded from existence.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

Ethan felt his eyes jump open, as he shot out an arm to shut the music off. He was running on autopilot, his brain still trying to understand the last few minutes. Was it the last few minutes? Had any of that really happened?

He reached out his hand blindly, trying to grab a hold of his phone. He brought it close to his face, his vision slowly losing its blurriness until he could read the date; the 23rd of November 2018. It was Black Friday again.

“What the fuck?”


	2. Loop 2 + 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethan runs through the next two loops, slowly figuring out what exactly was happening to him. 
> 
> -  
> Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the beginning of this chapter, but I literally can't be bothered to read over it because I'm exhausted. Any mistakes you see or sentences that don't quite make sense is because of that. I swear I'm not usually this bad.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

Ethan felt his eyes jump open, as he shot out an arm to shut the music off. He was running on autopilot, his brain still trying to understand the last few minutes. Was it the last few minutes? Had any of that really happened?

He reached out his hand blindly, trying to grab a hold of his phone. He brought it close to his face, his vision slowly losing its blurriness until he could read the date; the 23rd of November 2018. It was Black Friday again.

“What the fuck?”

Ethan didn’t really know how to explain what’d he just experienced, it had to have been a dream, but it was so vivid. He had never felt pain like that in a dream before.

Shaking off his unease, he gets out of bed, to prepare for his day. The whole time he ran through his morning routine he felt dread flood his gut more and more. The dream had felt so real. He was so distracted he didn’t notice his hands shaking until he felt his boiling coffee hit his hand.

He cursed and rushed over to the sink, careful of the shards of his mug he had dropped to the floor in shock. Sticking his hand under his tap, he stood there as the cold water cascaded down his skin.

Ethan hopped into his car, sitting there for a few seconds to breathe through the wrong and numb feeling flooding his body. He shook it off and began to drive to Hannah and Lex’s trailer home. Once he arrived to the house, he opened the door with his key and stepped inside and knocked on Hannah’s door.

He heard the young girl call out for him to come in.

He began to say his usual greeting, but the unease he had been feeling caused him to falter. “How are you Hannah?”

She frowned at the lack of her nickname but shrugged it off. “Bad.”

Ethan sighed, “What do you mean Banana? What’s wrong?”

“Bad blood. Black and white.” Those words sent a chill down his spine, too similar to his dream. He felt his eyes widen, but as he noticed Hannah start to look more afraid at his reaction, he forced himself to calm down and smile at her.

“Lex has a surprise for you at the mall today. Why don’t we go to there and then we can go see a movie, how about that?” Hannah looked to consider it and nodded up at him, before beginning to tug at her hair. Understanding what she wanted, Ethan sat behind her on the bed and began to braid her hair. He took the time she was turned away from him, to calm his breathing more.

As the two of them left the trailer, Ethan found himself in a mirror copy of his dream, except instead of the heavy silence coming from Hannah, he knew it was coming from him. He tried hard not to make the kid nervous, but he couldn’t seem to dislodge the lump in his throat.

As they arrived at the mall, he attempted to keep up his usual banter with Lex, however every time she responded in the same way as the dream, he felt his pulse quicken and a cold sweat break out. Lex seemed to catch up on that something was seriously wrong.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just got, uh, some serious déjà vu today. Like, the whole day.”

Lex seemed to try and understand but he knew she didn’t get how afraid he was. Why would he be afraid of déjà vu? It didn’t make much sense. “It’s just because every day’s the same in this boring town. Everything will be better in California.”

Ethan nodded and smiled, hoping it didn’t seem too fake. Yes, people kept saying the same thing as in his dream, but he was probably just misremembering. He just needed to calm down and move on with his day. So, he and Hannah made their way to the Cineplex again.

After Ethan asked for the tickets, the Cineplex attendant asked for the $27.50. That was when Ethan knew he had been wrong, and it hadn’t all been a dream. The fact that he, someone who hadn’t gone to the movies and paid for it in years, instead sneaking in with Lex and Hannah in the past, to have gotten the exact price right on the tickets, was too coincidental.

Something was very wrong.

It was too late though, because the security guard had already come in and grabbed him. When he heard him mention ToyZone again, Ethan decided it was time to follow his advice and get out of there.

“Come on Hannah, we should really get out of here.”

Hannah however had begun to shake. Obviously, Ethan noticing something wrong had solidified it for the young girl, who was now becoming near catatonic. Ethan grabbed her arm, trying to calm her down, so they could leave.

When he heard the familiar groaning of the men who had attacked him what felt like mere hours ago, he quickly shook Hannah and made eye contact. “Hannah, you need to go to the play place near Marshall’s, hide in the kiddie tunnel.”

He felt the girl’s hand clutch his jacket as she shook her head, but he quickly removed it and motion to her to leave. By then the men had shown up and Ethan felt them grab a hold of him and launch a punch in his face and gut. He spat out blood again.

“Bad blood!” Hannah screamed, clutching her arms to her chest.

“Hannah, please, go!” She seemed to sense how important it was to him, and started to run away, holding tight to her backpack straps. He allowed himself to focus on the fight happening around him, trying to fight back even though he knew it was helpless.

The air was knocked out of his lungs as he fell to the floor and began to be kicked in the head and gut repeatedly. It hurt as much the second time around. He lifted his arms to cover his head, although he knew it was in vain.

The hands ripped open his jacket again, once again not finding whatever they were hoping for. The second set of footsteps started to appear, and he heard a bit of a scuffle, before finding two faces in front of his eyes again. This time however, he had avoided the kick to his eye and could see more clearly, although still slightly blurry. Now he could see that the people were one of his teachers, and a woman he did not recognise, not Lex.

That hurt more than the blows to his body had, that the love of his life wasn’t around to comfort him as it ended for the second time. She probably wasn’t even around the first time, he had tried to comfort a complete stranger in his dying moments.

He wouldn’t waste it this time, as he felt his consciousness slipping away. “Find Hannah and help her. She’s in the play place. Please.” His eyes slipped close once again.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

The noise flooded his head again, as his eyes flew open. He was alive. Again.

The breath got caught in his throat as he felt himself begin to panic. He scrambled for his phone, praying that this wasn’t really happening, that that was a dream and not real life. That it wasn’t Black Friday again. But there, right on his phone screen, was the date; 23rd of November 2018.

Ethan quickly rushed to his bathroom, suddenly overwhelmingly sick. He threw up into the toilet, the current situation finally fully catching up to him. He had lived the same day twice, had died twice. And now, he had woken up on this date for the third time.

He was going to die again, and probably over and over again. He was stuck.

He had to figure out how to stop it all. He quickly began to plan. He knew he had died twice in the same place, so he had to avoid that. However, he had to still get Hannah to the mall, because if he didn’t Lex would realise something was wrong, and he couldn’t cope if she didn’t believe him. He needed to stay alive and keep Hannah safe, whilst maintaining an air of normalcy.

Of course, it was easier said than done.

He and Hannah arrived at the mall, Ethan tried to say the same things as the first time, to avoid Lex figuring out anything was wrong. After promising to meet up with her after her shift, he made his way to the Cineplex.

Staring at the teenager asleep on the job, he motioned to Hannah to remain quiet and then the two of them snuck past. Hannah definitely was not pleased, but it was better she was annoyed at him than witnessing him die. They sat down in the back of the cinema, with Hannah getting engrossed in the movie whilst he kept an eye on the door. After about 10 minutes, he saw two people make their way into the room.

Ethan stood up, shielding Hannah behind him.

He noticed it was the woman from the previous day. She was dragging Mr. Houston beside her, who was bleeding from his side, a knife sticking out of his body. Ethan quickly rushed over. He was still a little nervous around this new person, but he trusted his old teacher and certainly didn’t want him to die.

The woman paused in front of him, looking scared. He quickly lifted his hands, careful to appear not like a threat.

“I’m not going to hurt you or him. I want to help. Please, he’s my old teacher.”

She still looked weary but nodded. “I’m Becky.”

“Ethan,” he pointed at Hannah, who he motioned to still stay back. He may want to help this new woman, but he still needed to keep Lex’s sister safe. “And that’s Hannah.”

Becky smiled at the young girl but seemed to sense that Ethan wanted her to stay away from Hannah so simply positioned Tom onto the seats.

Over the next 20 minutes, Ethan helped Becky patch Mr. Houston up. Hannah was still staying away from them, watching the movie. She had her hand inside the bag, presumably brushing the plush of the Wiggly doll. Ethan knew Hannah liked certain textures when she was stressed, and stuffed toys often worked.

He noticed Mr. Houston was starting to wake up, so he made his way closer to Hannah. He wanted to trust Tom, but he had been killed twice by some random grown adults, so he didn’t know who he could fully trust.

Becky and Mr. Houston were talking in hushed voices, he couldn’t hear what was being said. Looking over at Hannah, he noticed that she had slightly pulled the green doll out of the bag. He didn’t really get the hype around it; it was pretty fucking ugly to be honest. But they needed that doll to live.

Which was why he was feeling a chill run up his spine as he turned around at Hannah’s wide eyes, to see the two adults staring at them with a twisted look in their eyes. They were starting to stand, and Ethan noticed the knife that had previously been in Tom’s side. He quickly clutched Hannah’s hand and whispered to her, not tearing his eyes away from the adults. “Hannah, run to the play place. Hide in the kiddie tunnel. Wait until they are distracted with me, and then go.”

Hannah shook her head, but Ethan gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

Tom and Becky were quickly advancing. “Hey kids, why don’t you give us that Wiggly doll?”

“Mr. Houston, what are you doing?” Ethan shielded the young girl with his body. He knew what he had to do.

Mr. Houston started running forward and Ethan pushed Hannah further behind him, “Hannah, go!”

He immediately felt a sharp pain in his stomach, looking down he noticed a knife now sticking out of him. He pushed Tom off of him in a wave of adrenaline, punching him in his previous stab wound. He could see Becky now turning around to face Hannah, who was racing down the stairs. Becky had a syringe in her hands, which he wasn’t even sure where it had come from, since it definitely hadn’t been in the first aid kit.

He launched himself onto Becky, tackling her to the ground. It pushed the knife further into his body, but he was able to wrestle the syringe out of her hands. Without thinking, he thrust it into Becky’s leg and pushed down on the plunger. The woman began to sway immediately. What the hell was in that fucking syringe?

He felt all of the strength leave his legs and he pushed himself off of the woman to lie on the ground in the aisle. All he could hear was Becky’s slurred speech, Tom’s groaning and the sounds of the movie playing in front of them all. He couldn’t hear Hannah, and hoped she’d gotten away and to safety.

As his eyes slipped close, and his blood spilled around his body, he could only think ‘Here I fucking go again.’


	3. Loop 4, 5, 6 + 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is this the best? No. But it's here.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

Ethan bolted upright in his bed, sitting there breathing heavily for a few seconds before reaching over to turn his alarm off. He knew he had to change his game plan up, obviously going to the mall was not working out, there was something seriously wrong going on there.

He grabbed his phone and texted Lex. He made up a lie, claiming he was feeling sick and that he’d come with Hannah to meet her after her shift ended but couldn’t come beforehand. She texted back, telling him she understood, and he needed to rest to ensure he’d be feeling well enough for the start of the drive to California that night.

He smiled as he started to get ready, he had a few hours to kill and he could use that time to try and figure out what was going on with him.

He knew that he kept repeating the day over and over again, starting each time after he died. He kept dying in the mall, so he had to stay away as much as possible. He didn’t know for sure, but he just had a gut feeling that if he could survive until Midnight the loop would end. So that’s what he would have to do.

After spending way too much time working on his newly formed plan, he noticed it was close to the time he should pick up Hannah to get to the mall for the end of Lex’s shift. He drove over to the trailer, before quickly getting Hannah into the car, only spending time to grab Lex’s duffel bag. The two crowded into the car and Ethan pulled out back onto the road.

He was halfway to the mall when he suddenly heard Hannah scream. Whipping his head to face her, he saw her staring out his window in fear. Turning back around to see what she was staring at, he only had a second to stare at the oncoming truck before everything went black.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

“Fuck!”

Ethan quickly pulled himself out of bed. Obviously, this shit was determined to kill him. Well, he wouldn’t let it. He sent another text to Lex, this time letting her know that he was way too sick to pick up Hannah and her, and they’d have to postpone their trip until the following day. She wasn’t pleased but was once again understanding.

This time, he didn’t bother getting ready, he needed to avoid anything that could cause him to die, since apparently the outside world wanted really hard to kill him.

He sat himself down in front of his television and wasn’t planning on moving for the rest of the day. However, around lunch time he started to feel hungry, and realised he hadn’t yet had anything to eat.

Checking his pantry, he noticed he only had a pathetic packet of pasta. He’d planned on leaving soon, so hadn’t bothered to go grocery shopping, and neither had his parents but only because they were too busy to notice the steadily emptying food supplies. This was all he had left.

Sighing, he grabbed a pot and filled it with water. He placed it on to the stove top, before grabbing his kitchen lighter. He turned the gas on and quickly pressed down the button on the lighter.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

He lay there in confusion for a few seconds before it hit him. “Shit, a gas leak, seriously? Fuck!”

At least dying in a giant explosion was apparently a quick death, he hadn’t even felt it. But still, it was the only thing that made sense. Which meant, he wasn’t even safe in his own house. Anything could kill him.

With that in mind, he decided he might as well try and protect Hannah and Lex while going through these loops.

After picking up Hannah, the two of them met Lex in the Toy-Zone back room.

“So, Lex, I think Hannah and I should wait back here through your shift.”

“What?” Lex gave him a weird look.

“She’s having a rough day, and honestly I’ve had a bad feeling all day. I think we’d both feel better if we stayed back here.”

Lex frowned at him but shrugged, “Okay, just make sure Frank doesn’t see either of you.”

He nodded and smiled at her, watching as she walked away. He and Hannah sat in the backroom for a while, until he started to hear a commotion in the store itself. He told Hannah to stay hidden in the back, while he went out to see what was going on.

In the store, was what looked like hundreds of people, getting in fights and trying to grab one of the dolls. He quickly looked around the large room, until his eyes landed on Lex. She was trying to hide away from the shoppers, not bothering to try and protect any of the dolls over her own life. He quickly made his way over to her, careful not to scare her when he approached.

As soon as she saw him, she grabbed a hold of his arm. She was terrified.

Ethan looked around for anywhere they could stay away. He noticed the second level, where no one had gone, presumably because there were no Wiggly dolls up there. They made their way up the stairs, not noticing the man following them up.

After reaching the second level, they looked around for anything to protect themselves. He suddenly felt arms grab the back of his jacket and before he even realised what had happened, he was tumbling over the side of the railing. Time slowed down, as he noticed that the angle he was falling, his neck was going to get broken.

He heard Lex scream out his name, in pure agony, until his head smacked the ground hard.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

Ethan lay there, staring in space for multiple minutes. He was so frustrated with this whole situation. Obviously, this was a hopeless cause. He was going to spend the rest of eternity dying over and over again. He wanted to curl up and never move again.

He knew he couldn’t do that though.

He was going to make it to California, with Lex and Hannah at his side.

He made his way to the mall with Hannah in the car. Once they arrived at the mall, he quickly sought out Lex.

“Lex, we need to talk.”

She seemed to immediately notice Ethan was freaking out. “What’s wrong?”

“You aren’t going to believe me, but please you have to.”

“Okay?” Lex grabbed a hold of Ethan’s arms, starting to rub them comfortingly. He loved her so goddamn much and this just reinforced that.

“I keep dying.” Lex couldn’t hide the confused look across her face. “I keep dying over and over again and they I just wake up again this morning. I’ve died like 6 times now.”

He knew Lex didn’t really believe him, but she could see how much he needed her to listen. Ethan could feel tears subconsciously rising in his eyes. The tears stayed put though when he heard the young girl beside them speak up.

“Webby says Ethan’s telling the truth.” Lex looked over at her sister, and saw how strongly she believed Ethan. She turned back to face her boyfriend.

“Okay, so you’re stuck in a time loop, like in that horror movie we watched one time?”

“What?”

“That horror movie, with the girl who keeps dying. Uh, Happy Death Day?”

Ethan realised she was right. “Yeah, like that. Exactly like that.”

“Okay… okay.” Lex was obviously trying to believe him. “If this is what’s happening, how do we stop it?”

Ethan felt the tears finally fall, “I don’t know. I’ve tried everything, it keeps going wrong.” He felt Lex’s arms wrap around him. Hannah soon joined and he held his two girls close to him.

“Let’s leave.”

“What?” Ethan looked up at Lex as she pulled back, a determined look on her face.

“We’ll leave, head to California right now. We can do this.”

Ethan shook his head, “It won’t work.”

“Too bad, we’re going to try. I’m not going to just sit back and let you die again. We’re leaving now. Fuck the doll.”

Ethan took a second to calm himself down, before nodding his head. The three of them quickly left the mall, leaving the Wiggly doll lying on the floor.

As they got in the car, they began to drive West, moving along for hours. Ethan stayed careful, keeping a far more watchful eye out on the road around him than usual. They had been driving for close to 12 hours when they finally pulled up to a hotel to rest for the night.

It was 10pm, the latest Ethan had made it through the day. As Lex was going into the reception to rent a room, he was grabbing their bags out of the car. Hannah was fast asleep in the backseat, and he was reluctant to wake her up yet.

As he went to stand up, he turned around, his eyes widening. There was a man standing in front of him, aiming a gun at him. He quickly raised his arms.

“Do you have a Wiggly?” The man shouted at him. This shit again?

“No, I swear I don’t.” Ethan shook his head, hoping the man would believe him. He had a feeling he wouldn’t.

“Don’t lie to me!”

“I’m not!” He shouted back at him, which was quickly drowned out by the sound of the gun going off. The man ripped the bags out of his arms and ran off, leaving Ethan to clutch his stomach. He could feel his warm blood spill past his fingers.

As he fell to the ground, he noticed Lex, who must have heard the commotion from the reception, and Hannah, who must have woken up, make their way over to him. They were both holding him as he bled out, sobbing and trying to stop the bleeding.

“It’s okay Lex, I’ll wake up again this morning.”

As he saw the two crying over him though, he started to wonder if maybe each new morning was a new universe, and his loved ones were still forced to mourn him each time he died. This was his last thought before everything fully slipped away.


	4. Loop 8, 9 + 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't posted. I had a university assignment due today which I literally only submitted two minutes before it was due, and I have been working on that the past few days. I also have another assignment due in 3 days so I won't be posting for that time most likely.   
> However, I finally got around to mapping out this story, so I have a plan for all of the chapters now. Which feels good, idk if I've ever fully mapped out a story before lol.  
> ALSO, potential trigger warnings. I haven't done those throughout but I feel they may be important in this chapter.  
> The first loop features two throat slits. It's probably the most gruesome death so far, although not super explicit. Also in that scene Hannah dies (she doesn't stay dead but she still dies). If you want to avoid reading Hannah's death skip from "Before Ethan could react..." to "No. No. No."  
> If you want to avoid the throat slitting altogether, please skip from "Before Ethan could react..." until the next "Gotta get up, gotta get out" sequence.  
> Final trigger warning; Ethan gets choked like that one scene in the show. I wouldn't normally include a TW for that however, with everything going on at the moment, I figured not everyone may be comfortable reading that. Skip "He briefly fought the man off." to the next "Gotta get up, gotta get out" sequence. Check end of chapter notes for summary of this section because it is essential to the plot.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

Ethan felt air rush into his lungs again and immediately used it to start screaming in anger. For the first time, he was thankful his parents were always gone by this time, so they wouldn’t rush upstairs to figure out what was wrong with their fucking idiot of a son.

He was so sick of this.

So fucking sick of it.

Realising the music was still playing, he grabbed his alarm clock, ripped the plug out of its socket and launched the machine against the wall. He felt a sick satisfaction as it broke into pieces against the wall. It would be fixed soon enough anyways when he restarted.

He drove his way to pick up Hannah. After shepherding her into the car, he sat there for a few seconds to breathe. He was still frustrated but he refused to let it out with Hannah in the car with him. She didn’t deserve to see him like this.

“Black and white.”

He turned to face her slightly, “What?”

“Black and white.” Hannah repeated. It was what she always said, but something felt different this time. Like there was a light echo behind it all. Like a softer, female voice overlapping Hannah’s just faintly enough to be unsure if he was truly hearing it.

He carefully looked around the car, not trying to alert Hannah to his confusion, but he didn’t see anyone in there. It wouldn’t make sense for anyone else to be in the car with him anyways, not since every day was the exact same.

As she continued to mutter to herself, Ethan was sure he could hear another voice joining hers, but there was truly no one else there. Shaking off his unease, he made his way into the mall. This time, after greeting Lex, he and Hannah headed straight to the play place.

This way, he could quickly hide her in the kiddie tunnel, rather than expecting her to make her way on her own. After he began to hear commotion in the mall, he squeezed himself and Hannah into the small space. It was in no way comfortable but at least they could be safe. They stuck close to the exit; in case they’d have to leave quickly, but out of sight.

They’d been waiting there for what felt like hours, Hannah keeping quiet, other than some small mutterings, seemingly sensing Ethan’s unease.

Ethan could still hear the other voice. It was so unbelievably faint, but he could swear it was there. If only he could find where it was coming from.

Other voices soon joined them however, as Ethan heard footsteps approaching. There were two voices, one male and one female. He quickly identified them as Tom and Becky. They kept hidden, carefully tucked out of sight, and sighed as the two voices left.

Hannah shifted slightly as Ethan breathed out in relief, and he felt the bag that had been sitting beside him fall onto its side, the Wiggly doll falling out into the open of the mall. He cursed quietly, before reaching out a hand to grab it, but another hand had wrapped around his wrist.

He looked up in shock, to see the face of the security guard.

The man smiled wickedly down at him, pulling harshly on his arm. Ethan felt himself quickly being yanked out from their hiding spot, unprepared for the strength of the adult. He noticed Hannah tumble out after him and watched in horror as another man, one with a tie wrapped around his head like a fucking douchebag, grabbed a hold of the young girl.

He began to struggle in the grasp, but it was too strong. He saw the older man holding Hannah smirk before reaching into his pocket, pulling out a box cutter of all things.

Before Ethan could even react, beyond screaming in horror, the man had slashed Hannah’s throat. Ethan felt blood spray against his face and blinked in wide eyed terror. Hannah was dead, just like that.

No.

No.

No.

NO.

Ethan wrestled out of the security guard’s arms, launching himself at the other man. He grabbed the box cutter and with barely any thought, slit it across his own throat.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

Unlike the last time he had felt sick, Ethan didn’t even make it to the bathroom, instead throwing up right over the side of his bed. He had so far not really thought about the fact other people could die, yeah they may not stay dead if he died after them, but what if someone died without him realising, what if he made his way out of this situation alive for once and Lex had died?

That wasn’t going to happen.

He knew the last time he had tried to escape the situation with both Lex and Hannah it hadn’t worked, but he had to try something. He couldn’t leave Lex alone in that shitshow.

He drove Hannah to the mall, thinking about his new plan of action. He needed to stick with Lex, not die and keep her safe. Maybe he should have left Hannah at home alone as well but honestly, she could die there too.

As they drove, he could hear Hannah’s mutterings again. This time, the female voice under hers was even clearer.

“Hannah, do you hear that?” She gave him a quizzical look so he continued. “The woman’s voice.”

“That’s Webby.” She said it so matter-of-factly, he almost believed her. Almost. But he knew Webby was just an imaginary friend. She wasn’t real.

He scoffed at her and just responded nonchalantly “Right.”

As they pulled into the mall parking lot, he fully decided on what to do. Hannah and he were going to hide in the back storage and when the riots broke out, he’d quickly grab Lex and bring her in to. Which was exactly what he did. He wasn’t however, expecting a cult.

After watching Frank get killed with the box cutter, his mind briefly shot back to the previous loop, to Hannah’s death. He shook it off, determined to not get distracted. He had to keep his two girls safe.

He couldn’t do that however, as he was being pulled into a side room of the store, possibly the employee’s break lounge he wasn’t sure, by a creepy man with a combover.

He briefly fought the man off but was cut off as an arm snaked its way around his neck.

He couldn’t breathe.

He was going to die again.

_‘Yes, you are Ethan Green.’_

What the fuck? It was the same voice from the car, this time much louder.

_‘Yes, I’m able to cross the divide more easily when you are so close to death. I haven’t been able to contact you yet but with each loop your dormant powers awoke more and more.’_

Powers? What the fuck was happening? Who was this chick?

_‘You know who I am Ethan Green.’_

Webby.

_‘Yes.’_

Ethan couldn’t believe any of this was happening. The time loops had been crazy enough, but now he was being choked to death in what felt like slow motion, whilst having a conversation in his head with Hannah’s imaginary friend.

_‘I’m not imaginary. In fact, I’m more real than anything in your world. I exist in the Black and White, striding the divide between the many universes. Where you belong.’_

What are you talking about? Ethan could feel himself becoming more and more lightheaded with every passing second, and the conversation became far more difficult as time passed.

_‘I’m sorry I am unable to help you at this moment Ethan Green, but I will guide you in the future.’_

Ethan quickly began to wonder if maybe she meant she could get him out of the loops, and he attempted to ask her so, unsure of how exactly their conversation in his head was even working.

He did not receive any form of answer however, as his eyes rolled up into the back of his head as the man choking him yelled in his ear “I’m going to fucking kill you.”

He was right.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

Ethan opened his eyes, gulping in breaths of air he hadn’t appreciated fully before his latest death. After allowing himself to breathe and not think, he started remembering the conversation he had had with Webby. Who was real, who Hannah had been speaking to for years.

He made his way through the morning routine, picking up Hannah and listening to her mutter what Webby was saying. Webby who he could hear. He was never getting over that.

Once they arrived at the mall, he didn’t know what to do. Everything he had tried had gone wrong.

_‘Hide in the play place with Hannah. Have her hold the Wiggly doll. Make sure she wears your hat.’_

What? Was that really Webby’s advice? He didn’t hear anything after that so decided to follow the order. The two waited in the play place, until they heard two familiar voices. It was Tom and Becky again.

‘ _Get out of the tunnel with Hannah and the doll now. Run but eventually let Becky hit you with the syringe.’_

That sounded like the absolute worst advice, but he listened to what Webby had to say. After all, what better idea did he have? The two crawled out of the tunnel, staring at the two adults. Ethan grabbed Hannah’s hand tight, and the two ran across the mall floor. They hid and waited around the corner, hearing the two argue about letting Hannah and Ethan get away.

He could hear only Becky suddenly, as she attempted the two to come out of hiding. He knew he was meant to let her ‘Hit him with the syringe’, but he didn’t really like that idea so was trying to hold it off. What he hadn’t noticed though was Tom sneaking behind them, by going down a different corridor and circling around.

Suddenly Hannah was being grabbed from behind, and Becky was in front of him, brandishing the syringe like a knife. He felt it pierce his forearm and saw her press down on the plunger. Whatever was in those things worked fast because within a few seconds he was sliding down a wall to slump on the ground. He could barely move.

He saw the woman grab out another syringe, and seriously did she just keep these on her at all times, before raising it above her head. Before Ethan could do anything, she was bringing it down into… her own leg?

She seemed as confused as he was but that was all he could register before his eyes slipped shut.

He was roused awake by some rough jostling, opening his blurry eyes slowly. After blinking a few times to adjust to the new lighting, he found himself surrounded by the cult again. One of them, a blonde woman, was threatening Hannah with a box cutter. Not again.

He went to rush forward but was held back by some arms.

Before he could fight back, he heard a voice break out over the crowd. “Is this what you’re looking for?” He was being dropped as the man behind him rushed forward, in awe of the Wiggly doll Lex held in her hands.

Lex!

She was safe and looking like a total badass.

Ethan was still groggy from whatever had been in that syringe, but he swore Lex looked like an angel. But she needed help.

_‘Stay down Ethan, Lex has got this handled.’_

He decided to listen to Webby, as he felt another wave of exhaustion wash over him. He suddenly wasn’t certain this was just the chemicals he had pumped into him at fault, but also potentially Webby trying to keep him down.

He felt like he was only half aware of everything that was going on, but he knew that Tom had a gun to the blonde cult member, maybe the leader’s head. The woman suddenly threw him off though as she saw Lex lift a lighter to the doll.

The cult members were all swooning over the doll again, as Lex and Hannah made their way over to him, all three of them wrapping themselves around each other, as Tom stood protectively in front.

“Thank god you’re okay.” Lex said, and Ethan smiled tiredly up at her. “You too.”

He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and could see Becky aiming the once discarded gun at the cult leader’s head. He quickly shielded Hannah’s eyes as he realised what was about to happen. The gun went off and the cult leader fell over dead.

Lex was suddenly leaving their bubble of protection, grabbing the doll again and setting it on fire. Before he could even fully comprehend what was happening, he was being half pulled, half dragged out of the mall as it went up in flames.

He heard Tom reunite with another woman, who was mentioning someone who sounded a lot like his Uncle Hidgens. He tuned back into the conversation and straightened up consciously, after feeling himself starting to slump against Lex a little.

“I don’t even know what time it is. What am I supposed to do without my iPhone.” One of the newcomers was asking.

“Wear a watch.” Ethan smiled down at Hannah, glad to see her openly sassing another stranger. It was so rare she’d even speak in front of someone she doesn’t know, much less in a sarcastic manner.

“It’s 11:57. Black Friday’s almost over. I feel like if we can survive today, we can survive anything.”

Tom was right, Ethan just knew that if he made it past midnight, this time loop business would all be over. Survivors from the mall were gathering outside, seeming to break free from whatever spell they had been under. As they all began to celebrate, he became aware of Hannah staring off into the sky and a feeling of dread seemed to fill his gut.

_‘Look to the sky Ethan, this isn’t over yet.’_

He couldn’t see what both Webby and Hannah seemed to be able to, but if felt like the sound disappeared around him, like someone had turned down the radio that was his life. Something was very, very wrong.

“Tomorrow won’t come.”

He wasn’t sure who had said it, him, Hannah or Webby. Judging by the look on Lex’s face, it had been him and Hannah at the same time.

As he stared into the sky, he could suddenly see it. It was a large plane, which seemed to drop something from its cargo hold, which hurtled towards the Earth against the pitch-black sky.

No, tomorrow certainly wouldn’t come. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary of choking scene:   
> Ethan is being choked by Sherman, he starts hearing the female voice. It is confirmed to be Webby who states ‘I’m not imaginary. In fact, I’m more real than anything in your world. I exist in the Black and White, striding the divide between the many universes. Where you belong.’ She then goes on to explain that Ethan's connection to the Black and White is strengthening with each loop, however she cannot save him in this one. She lastly states she will help guide Ethan in the future.  
> The scene then ends with Ethan dying, no McNamara to save him unfortunately.


	5. Loop 11 + 12

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

He had been so close. So fucking close. It was just his luck that a fucking nuke would get dropped on Hatchetfield of all places. Like seriously, what the fuck?

_‘My apologies Ethan, you won’t be able to break this time loop yet. You were right, you need to survive until midnight, but you can’t do that due to something out of your control, I am sorry.’_

The voice sounded genuinely remorseful, but Ethan was not having it. He was determined to make it out of this shit alive and he let the voice know it. He felt anger envelop his entire being and he was suddenly aware of a presence he hadn’t been aware of start to flee his mind. He stamped down on his anger, trying to stop the presence from leaving. It stayed.

Was that Webby?

_‘Yes, that was me. You have more power over the Black and White than you know.’_

She kept mentioning that, the Black and White but he still didn’t know really what it was or what exactly his role within it was.

_‘I’m afraid I can’t tell you that Ethan. Just know, you have a connection to the space between dimensions, and that will aid you in your quest. But first, you must stop World War 3.’_

Ethan mentally scoffed, stop World War 3, was that all?

He could tell Webby had not enjoyed his sarcasm as she began to retreat from his mind, not as completely as before but still a very obvious slight at his attitude. Whatever, he was stuck in a time loop, he deserved to be a little sarcastic.

As he got ready, he tried to prod Webby for more answers, on how he was meant to stop a damn world war. She kept being as cryptic as ever, not truly answering any of his questions.

_‘Two doors not one’_

He’d heard Hannah mutter that in previous loops, but it was no more enlightening when it was coming from an interdimensional bodiless voice apparently. He honestly was beginning to feel bad for all the times he’d mocked Hannah’s short sayings, after all she was just copying Webby, who turned out to be secretive as all hell.

He figured that whatever caused the world war, it’d be something involving the world leaders, but he wasn’t honestly very well versed in politics. He didn’t even really know anything about the president, except his name was Howard Goodman, a name he’d heard his parents discuss over a glass of wine countless times.

Still, this Howard guy probably was involved, unless another country had decided to nuke America for no reason. Which, Ethan didn’t know much about politics, but he was fairly certain that wasn’t the smartest idea, since America could nuke them right back. No, there had to be a reason, America had to have done something. The president must have.

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice his foot leaving the pedal. In the middle of an intersection. He was torn out of his own daydreaming by the sound of a car horn, before the impact hit his side.

Unlike the past however many loops, this one didn’t end immediately. Apparently, he hadn’t been killed on impact.

Fuck.

He was lying in the middle of the road, glass shards all around him and in pure agony. He saw blurry figures running around him, could hear them screaming. He didn’t know what was happening, but he blinked and opened his eyes in a completely different setting.

He was laying in a hospital bed, wrapped in bandages, a television unit playing on the screen in front of him. He tried to focus on what must be the news.

“Riots have spread across the country, as people everywhere attempt to get their hands on the new Wiggly doll. Death tolls have not been officially counted, with numbers sure to rise over the next few hours, however early estimates range in the thousands. It is advised to stay inside and lock your doors.”

His eyes widened; this shit had truly spread throughout the whole country. He figured after he was shot in that hotel, but the confirmation was something to behold. Even if he was able to survive a loop, life could probably never go back to normal. He had to stop this Wiggly bullshit.

_‘I’m afraid you won’t be able to do that Ethan Green. Wiggly has far more power than you or anyone, his influence cannot be fought on such a large scale.’_

He was about to respond back when the words _Breaking News_ flashed across the television screen.

“A large explosion has been reported in Russia, with the entire city of Moscow being apparently wiped out in what experts are theorising was a nuclear attack. Not much is known at this time, however we will keep you updated as more information is released.”

So that was how World War 3 started, an entire city was killed with a nuke. Holy shit.

_‘This is Wiggly’s influence, he is very skilled at manipulation, which the President has just discovered. This accident is the cause of the bomb you saw two loops ago. You can’t stop this now I’m afraid Ethan, so this loop is void. I’m sorry for the pain I am about to cause you.’_

What?

Suddenly a blinding pain filled Ethan’s head, it was the worst agony he’d ever experienced. He felt blood flowing from his ears, mouth and nose and blinked away what he thought was tears but quickly realised was more blood as his vision tinted red. He wanted this to end, he needed this to end, why couldn’t it just-

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

Suddenly, the pain was all gone. His vision was clear as he looked around his room. What the fuck?

Webby had just killed him.

_‘I am sorry Ethan but there was no point in you staying alive in that loop, the missile would still fall either way.’_

Logically, he knew she was right, but the fact that she could just so easily kill him made him suddenly very uneasy. How did she have so much control?

_‘As a being of the Black and White, I have more control over your dimension than you can truly understand. Now, on to more important matters.’_

The sheer nonchalance she regarded the agony she had caused him definitely gave him pause, but ultimately, he knew he needed her help if he wanted to survive. He was just going to have to let this go, no matter how wary that made him.

_‘I have a way for you to stop this war, but it is going to be difficult. You will need to enter the Black and White.’_

What? How?

_‘I will help amplify your increasing powers, with my help you will be able to cross the threshold, however when you enter my dimension you will be just as much at the mercy of Wiggly and his minions than me. It is likely they will torture your very soul.’_

Ethan didn’t particularly like the idea of his soul being tortured, and was about to refuse, before he remembered Lex and Hannah’s faces. Their safety was more important than his comfort. He’d do it.

_‘You will need to find two men: General John McNamara and President Howard Goodman. Warn them about Wiggly’s trick with the nuke; the Russians have their own portal and Wiggly will send the missile through the other end, baiting American into World War 3. Then, leave through their same portal, it is unlikely I will be able to return you to this dimension without it and I am unsure what will happen to your time loops if you die in the Black and White.’_

Ethan nodded his head, although he was beginning to feel somewhat overwhelmed with all of the information. However, he knew how important this was and he couldn’t afford to screw it up.

He quickly got dressed, not particularly wanting to face whatever was about to happen in his pyjamas. On impulse, at the last second, he grabbed his baseball cap and stuffed it into his back pocket, although he wasn’t sure what had compelled him to do so.

He closed his eyes, and concentrated hard. He could feel Webby’s presence amplify, until it felt like it was engulfing him in a warm glow that quickly began to burn. Suddenly however, the heat dropped away, and he felt a cool numbness envelop his entire being. He opened his eyes, staring solely into oblivion.

He tried to look around but there was nothing surrounding him, simply darkness.

“Webby?”

No answer.

“Shit.”

He stood there staring into nothingness, it felt like he waited forever, before a warmth started to spread through his back pocket. In confusion, he reached behind him and pulled out his baseball cap, which was the source of the heat. It seemed to glow in the dark.

As he spun around, trying to get his bearings, he noticed the hat began to dim and cool. Turning back around to where he originally had been facing, he saw it begin to brighten again. He started moving forward, using the light of his cap to guide him, no matter how ridiculous that felt in his core.

After walking for what felt like eternity, he began to notice eyes peeking out of the darkness, joining his hat in emitting light. However, the green glow of these eyes did not fill him with the same comfort as the orange glow surrounding his cap.

Beings began to step forward, when he blinked, they appeared like the humans in the Wiggly commercials, but he’d blink again and suddenly they’d appear like Eldritch monsters beyond description. They continued to cycle through this, as they began to circle him.

 _ **‘Hello Fwendy-Wend.’**_ A voice boomed throughout the void, seeming to come from all angles. It was overwhelming to his senses, but he moved forward, trusting the guidance of his hat. The creatures surrounding him began to part as he moved, following him but not creeping closer. Ethan fought back a shiver, as he made eye contact with the tallest of the creatures and felt like he was staring into the deepest pits of Hell. There was nothing behind those glowing eyes.

 _ **‘Have you come to play? It’s been so long since I played with you.’**_ The voice called again. Ethan felt himself falter, he’d never spoken to this voice and yet it regarded him with the same familiarity Webby had. He had a deep suspicion that the two beings knew him in a way he was unaware of and the idea of being these two creatures’ plaything filled him with such dread.

It went beyond simple distrust of the voices, into a sense of unease that could only come from previous experience. But before these time loops, he hadn’t even thought the stories Hannah told were real.

Ethan pressed forward, ignoring the nagging feelings of worry that filled his gut. He had to keep moving, had to find the president and the general and warn them.

 _ **‘Webby, are you trying to help my fwendy-wend? You can’t do that, he’s mine!’**_ The voice called, like a petulant child who wasn’t getting their way.

Suddenly, he became aware that he wasn’t moving forward anymore, instead stuck in place. He couldn’t truly tell, since the world stayed the same endless void, but he knew it within himself that something had changed. The glow of his hat was suddenly stamped out and he was alone with only the glowing eyes surrounding him.

The eyes grew larger, as they neared him, and he felt hands grab onto his skin in any purchase they could find. It burned like acid, as he began to smell smoke, with their handprints searing into his skin. They truly were something else, unhuman, that was like poison to his soul.

He screamed in agony, in fear and in pure unadulterated anguish.

Two large eyes floated above him, glaring down at him as he cried.

Everything became overwhelming, the pain pushing him to his very limits. He took one last ragged breath before letting out a scream filled with all of his agony. He felt the hands suddenly let go, with hissing filling the air, as all of the eyes fled into the darkness before blinking out of existence altogether.

The hat, which had fallen out of his grip, began to glow once again and he picked it up from the ground. Unsure what the hell had just happened, still heaving heavily as he attempted to catch his breath, he started walking forward again.

It wasn’t long before he came upon a man in military clothing, who was staring into the middle distance.

“General McNamara?” He guessed.

The man turned around to face him, shock evident on his face. “Yes, who are you?”

“My name’s Ethan Green, you need to stop the missile, don’t send it through the portal, Wiggly’s trying to start World War 3. The Russians have a portal.”

McNamara looked more and more distressed as Ethan explained himself, closing his eyes and taking a sharp inhale before opening them again. “I’m afraid it’s too late. The President has already left here and is likely about to launch the nuke as we speak.”

Ethan began to panic, “Then we have to go through the portal and warn him now.”

“We can’t young man, even if we were able to make it to the portal in time, I can’t enter through it again, my body has already begun to dissolve into the Black and White and I suspect yours will soon. How did you make it in here in the first place?”

“Webby helped me.”

McNamara seemed to understand who Ethan meant when he said Webby, but he wasn’t able to speak any further because he heard the tell-tale whistle of the missile being sent through one portal. He saw another portal open up above him.

In that instant, he remembered Webby’s warning, if he was unable to exit through a portal, he’d be stuck in the Black and White, and who knows what that would do to the time loops. He wouldn’t be able to save Lex and Hannah.

“No!”

He screamed, as he watched the missile enter the Russian portal, suddenly he felt the numbness of the Black and White leave, with only a freezing cold surrounding him. He looked around, no longer in the void but instead surrounded by Russian style buildings in the snow. He was barely able to take all of this in, before he felt the explosion.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_


	6. Loop 13, 14, 15, 16 + 17

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

How had he done that? One minute he’d been stuck in the Black and White, the next he was in… Russia? He felt an uncertain presence at the back of his mind, instinctively registering it as Webby. It was honestly astonishing how quickly he’d grown used to the being, but he figured being stuck in a time loop repeating your death would probably result in your incredulity being reduced.

He figured he might as well get immediately back to trying to step into the Black and White again, to stop the President. Last time he’d been too late, so he’d have to try and be quicker this time. As he reached out an arm to shut off his alarm, he noticed numerous red marks in the shape of handprints on his skin.

What?

_“It appears any damage you sustain within the Black and White will carry over into your next time loop.”_

That didn’t really make much sense to Ethan though, wouldn’t he have been blown up and stayed that way in that case?

_“No. The nuclear weapon went off whilst you were in Russia, you were no longer in the Black and White.”_

Okay, great. So, he had to be more careful about avoiding any injuries in the Black and White then. He at least hoped he’d be able to teleport like he had the loop before out of the interdimensional space, so that if he got in harm’s way he could quickly escape.

Grabbing his baseball cap, he quickly got ready. He’d have to move quickly once in the Black and White so he needed to be prepared. He couldn’t get caught by those weird creatures again.

_“The Sniggles. Nasty minions of Wiggly.”_

Great, the Sniggles. The weird creatures from a realm between dimensions sounded like a knock off children’s show band. 

Once he was ready, he clutched his cap tightly in his hands and closed his eyes, concentrating on the numbing feeling that had been present in the Black and White the last time. Once he was sure he was actually feeling that sensation, and not just imagining it, he opened his eyes again and looked out into the inky darkness.

He followed the glow of his hat, walking further through the darkness. After what felt like hours, he reached another source of the light. It was a glowing green light, but unlike the eyes of the Sniggles or Wiggly, this light was coming from a person. The person was wearing a helmet and space suit.

This must be the President.

How were you meant to address a President, he tried to think back to the cheesy alien movies he’d seen with Lex, that would always feature some fictional President. “Mr. President!” He called out, smiling when he noticed the man turn around to face him.

Suddenly, he was being spun around by rough hands, and a sharp pain sprung up in his gut. He stared into the eyes of a crazed looking man, who was wearing way too much denim for one person and smiling evilly up at him. He grabbed for where the pain originated from and his hands clumsily knocked against the knife sticking out from his stomach, causing blinding agony to course through his body.

Fuck.

Ethan knew if any injuries sustained in the Black and White were permanent, then if he died here, he’d likely never wake up. Which meant Hannah and Lex, and the whole damn town would die in the nuke again, permanently this time.

He needed to leave, and he didn’t have time to warn the President first. He cursed as he squeezed his eyes tight, concentrating on his bedroom. He felt warmth flood his body as he crumpled to his carpeted floor. The knife was still sticking out of him.

He figured he’d die either way, so might as well take the knife out. It couldn’t really do him any harm at this point. His vision blurred as he become lightheaded, letting the knife tumble from limp fingers.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

He sat up in bed, before hissing out in pain. He quickly pressed a hand to his stomach, seeing it come back red. Apparently, since he got the stab wound in the Black and White, it had passed over to this loop as well, despite him dying of it outside of the other dimension.

He raced to the bathroom as quickly as he could as he bled out. His mom kept a fully stocked first aid kit in the bathroom, probably as a way to hide any of his split lips or cuts. It wouldn’t do for others to know her son was a miscreant who regularly got into fights. She’d only patched him up a few times, expecting every time after that for him to do it himself, but he knew she still kept it relatively well-stocked.

He attempted to close up the wound any way he could, giving himself stitches with shaky hands. It was a shoddy job, but he didn’t really have any other options. As he clutched the needle, he noticed the burns on his arm were gone. So apparently any wounds sustained in the Black and White only lasted one loop. Thank god, he really didn’t want to have to deal with this every time he woke up.

After finishing the stitches and wrapping a tight bandage around his stomach, he took a few steadying breaths before plunging back into the Black and White. He had to do this he couldn’t just let the nuke blow up Moscow again. Maybe it wouldn’t be permanent, but it was still on his conscience.

He looked around the dark world, trying to make out anything in the void. He trudged forward, quickly coming across the Sniggles again. They were clutching a lone figure whose skin he could hear sizzling. Looking closer, he realised with a start that the figure was him somehow.

What the fuck?

He rushed backwards in shock, weaving a large circle around the scene he’d just witnessed. He wanted to investigate further, beg Webby for answers but she seemed incapable of talking to him while he was in her dimension based on prior loops, so he attempted to push it to the back of his mind for later.

He finally made his way to where the President had been the last loop, or at least he thought it was, but the President wasn’t there, instead General McNamara stood alone.

“Where’s the President?”

“You’re too late,” The man said, obviously mistaking Ethan for one of the creatures of the Black and White “He has already left through the portal.”

“I’m not a part of Wiggly’s plan. My name is Ethan, I’m stuck in a time loop and the President launching a nuke in here is going to cause a lot of problems for a lot of people. I need your help.”

The general didn’t look super trusting, but Ethan figured he noticed how he was hunched, clutching his stomach as it got more painful the longer he stood. He wasn’t a very intimidating figure. He looked into his eyes, before the General quickly pulled out a knife.

Ethan instinctively stepped back, really not wanting to get stabbed again but he could tell by the man’s stare that that was the wrong choice. He sucked in his fear before stepping back into his original position. The general seemed impressed for some reason. “The blade of Truth had no effect on you, you aren’t one of the Sniggles. I believe you.”

Ethan let out a sigh of relief, before realising he didn’t have much time. “Where in the real world is your portal.”

“It’s in Washington, in PEIP HQ.”

“Do you have an address?” The general began to list off an address, “Wait, could you write it down.”

After obtaining the piece of paper with the address, he stared at it for a second before placing it in his mouth. He wasn’t sure it would work, but he needed a way to keep it safe and if anything that happened to him in the Black and White remained in the next loop, he hoped this would too.

He said goodbye to the General member, who saluted him in return. As he blinked back into existence on Earth, he saw a figure emerge through the darkness who looked a hell of a lot like him.

He landed back in his bedroom in shock. “What the hell was that?” He asked, mindful of the piece of paper in his mouth.

_“Time exists much less linearly than you are used to in the Black and White. Every time loop you experience occurs at the same time in my dimension, it is why I am unable to communicate with you whilst you are there, my voice would travel to you at all points. Now, this loop is moot and should not continue.”_

He barely had time to protest before Webby unleashed the torture on his brain again, blood quickly pouring out of anywhere it could find, including his stab wound which throbbed to his racing pulse.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

Ethan became aware first of the presence of something stuck in his mouth beginning to slip down his throat. He quickly launched forward, digging fingers into his mouth before he choked on the piece of paper. It would be incredibly embarrassing to choke to death on paper he put in his own damn mouth.

Unfolding it and staring at the address, he quickly grabbed his father’s wallet. The man usually left his main wallet with most of his credit cards at home, only keeping a much smaller wallet with him when he went to work. He had a gambling problem, and had decided this was the best way to manage that.

Which worked for Ethan, because the cards with more money on them were the ones left at home. He grabbed out one of the cards and rushed to his laptop. He launched a plane ticket website, plugging in the card details and booking a very last-minute flight to Washington DC. It would leave in just over an hour. He quickly raced to his car, making his way to the airport and through security.

The flight would be just over an hour, hopefully leaving him enough time to make it to PEIP HQ to intercept the President. He had figured time ran a little faster in the Black and White, and based on the news report he had heard so many loops ago, Moscow was blown up around 2pm. He had about 3 and a half hours until then.

The plane had been in the air for 20 minutes before he felt it begin to shudder. He furrowed his brows in confusion as it continued to shake. Suddenly they were losing altitude fast, the face masks dropping from the ceiling.

Everyone around him was screaming and praying and he attempted to lean back in his seat, as they plummeted to the death. He blacked out moments before the impact.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

So that airplane had been a bust. Still, he couldn’t give up. He repeated the same actions as the previous morning, instead opting to book a slightly later flight. It’d be a lot less time but hopefully this one wouldn’t crash to the goddamn Earth. His luck in these loops was truly rotten.

He hopped in his car, but before he got to the airport, he stopped at one of the only payphones in all of Hatchetfield. He called in a tip that someone was threatening to blow up the plane he had caught in the previous loop. That wasn’t actually what happened obviously, but he hoped the investigation that would have to occur would save the lives of the people on that plane.

Once he arrived at the airport, he raced through security once again, sneaking a glance at the lobby where his previous plane’s passengers stood around in annoyance, obviously confused. Apparently, after quickly asking someone the plane had been easily cleared of the bomb threat but had been delayed by an hour. He really hoped that meant they’d avoided whatever turbulence had brought the plane down originally.

He got on his new flight and this time it landed in Washington without a hitch. He rented a car and drove to the location on the piece of paper. As he got to the front of the building, he saw armed guards at the gate.

“I need to speak with General John McNamara,” He started. The guards looked unsure what to do and so he continued. “He’s about to make a terrible mistake, if he sets off that nuke it will end badly. Wiggly is trying to bait the President into World War 3.”

He realised his mistake too late, seeing one of the guards raise his gun, a random civilian shouldn’t know any of that, so of course he looked like a threat. Still, they probably shouldn’t just shoot him straight up, was his last thought before the bullet that would kill him left its chamber.

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

This wasn’t working, he knew that. Trying to physically go to PEIP was not the right move. He needed to try the Black and White again. This time though, he’d be prepared.

He quickly got dressed, grabbing the baseball cap like always. He also went to his parent’s bedroom and opened the safe that kept their gun. Neither of his parents were even gun fans, they’d gotten it to appease his uncle who always thought the world was about to end, which apparently, he’d been partially correct. But still, he figured his parents probably had forgotten the gun was even in there, but he hadn’t, and it would come in handy.

Before he left, he sent another tip to the airport about the plane. He couldn’t forget those poor people.

He blinked into the Black and White, the familiar numbness almost becoming comforting after all this time. He made his way around where he knew he’d run into past versions of himself and kept hidden as he saw the man decked out in denim stab past him. Once the earlier Ethan had teleported away, he quickly rose his gun and shot the denim man.

He watched as the man made eye contact with him, before turning into smoke and teleporting away, the Sniggles following suit. He knew the man wasn’t human, at least not fully, and would certainly be back soon. He quickly rushed to the President, who looked scared shitless, and grabbed a hold of him.

“Sir, sir!” He shook the man, who at this point looked nearly hysterical. “Calm down.”

The President looked up at him, partly in shock and partly in a plea for help in some way.

“My name is Ethan. I know you have no reason to believe me, but I’ve been stuck in a time loop. You can’t set off the nuke okay? The Russians have another portal, Wiggly will send the nuke through their portal. He’s trying to bait you into World War 3.”

He could see the man needed more convincing “I know General John McNamara sent you in here, but this plan isn’t going to work. We need to go back through the portal, Wiggly can’t be appeased like this.”

The President made eye contact with him and thankfully nodded, before dragging him over to the portal. The two made their way through, and suddenly Ethan was staring into the faces of multiple military personnel, who all quickly drew guns.

“Wait, it’s okay! He’s on our side.” With that the President began to explain the situation, with Ethan further explaining his side. By the end he had successfully won over PEIP.

_“Well done Ethan. In Hatchetfield, your Lex will kill Wiggly’s prophet, stopping his birth into your world. Unfortunately, his effects over the shoppers across America can’t be fully stopped by any of us, however by midnight he will have truly lost all power in your world and it will be over. Sadly, many will have already died but it’s better than him rising.”_

Ethan nodded along, disappointed he couldn’t do anything else but honestly, he’d stopped World War 3, which was definitely pretty cool.

He unfortunately had to be debriefed for some reason, which took far longer than Ethan was okay with, but they wouldn’t just let him leave. They’d heard him recount his entire story of the time loop and fully believed him, which was refreshing after being unable to talk about it for so long. Still, he just wanted to head home.

Hours later, McNamara offered him a ride back to Hatchetfield and he accepted, not wanting to attempt to make his own way back. He hopped into a helicopter and once they were half way back to Hatchetfield he heard Webby’s voice again.

_“Your girlfriend Lex is in danger, now that McNamara was not absorbed into the Black and White. You can’t teleport to her side; you don’t have the power to move in space without first using the Black and White as a gateway and there is no way Wiggly would let you leave if you entered the dimension again. However, if I lend you my strength, and Lex also uses her powers, we will be able to send her a message and your weapon.”_

Ethan wasn’t so sure, but he couldn’t let Lex die, so he concentrated hard, feeling Webby’s presence grow in his mind until it felt like he was an extension of her, not his own person. It was both intoxicating and sickening.

Soon though, he opened his eyes to the storeroom of the mall. Lex was on the ground, the man who had once strangled Ethan, had his arms wrapped around her throat. It appeared as though time was frozen, the man not moving a muscle, however Lex turned to look at him.

“E-Ethan?”

He crouched down in front of her, wanting to touch her but something telling him he wouldn’t be able to. She reached out a hand though, brushing it through his body as if he wasn’t there. “Are-are you a ghost? Or a hallucination?”

“No, and honestly I don’t know how to even begin to explain it but I’m here to help. You need to use this gun.” He held up the gun towards her. She tried to take it but couldn’t.

“I-I can’t.”

“Yes, you can Lex. You can do this. Webby told me, and yes Webby’s real by the way, that you have powers and honestly, it’s not the weirdest thing I’ve had to deal with. I will tell you all about it but first you have to make it out of here alive. Please, you have to try.”

Lex looked confused but determined and they both concentrated, suddenly he felt the gun leave his hand and he looked down to see it in Lex’s. He smiled at her as she smiled back up at him, before suddenly he was back on the helicopter, acutely aware of the fact he’d never actually left the seat. But feeling to the spot he’d been keeping the gun, he noticed it wasn’t there. He had a feeling Lex would be just fine.

They soon touched down in front of a burning mall and he suddenly had his arms full of a stumbling Lex, who shook as she clutched him tight. “Did that really happen? With you in the storeroom?”

“Yeah, I’ll explain later.”

She nodded before going back to hugging him. He felt another pair of smaller arms wrap around him. He looked down to see Hannah. He was a bit confused at first, since he hadn’t brought her to the mall but then he realised Lex had probably called Alice or Deb to pick the young girl up when he hadn’t done so.

He zoned out the conversation around him as he hugged the two girls to him. However, he tuned back in as he heard the group begin to count down the time until Midnight. He began to feel hope rush through him in a way he hadn’t experienced in what felt like a lifetime. He would finally make it to midnight. He’d be free of this time loop.

“5, 4, 3, 2-”

_“Gotta get up, gotta get out, gotta get home before the morning comes_

_What if I'm late, gotta big date, gotta get home before the sun comes up”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, holy shit this was a long one.   
> Also, ignore the fact that if someone said an airplane was going to be bombed, the airport would totally shut down altogether for the investigation. I needed a way for Ethan to stop that plane, I can't imagine he'd let them all die.


End file.
